The opening of Canadian Football League free agency can be a combination of the euphoria of Christmas morning and the instant joy that comes from holding a winning lottery ticket.
Teams can land – or, conversely, lose – the missing ingredient to a championship side when the annual talent feeding frenzy opens. Or at the very least, they can dive into the pool and come out with their roster considerably deeper and more talented.
That euphoria and instant joy for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers came on February 14th, when all-star receiver Kenny Lawler opted to return to Manitoba after a one-year interlude with the Edmonton Elks.
Lawler is a difference maker, having led the Blue Bombers in receiving in 2019 and 2021 and last season doing the same in Edmonton, despite playing in just 12 games.
“I’m the best receiver in the league and guys around the league know that,” said Lawler at a press conference trumpeting his return in February. “They know every time they come to play with me, I’m going to hit them in the mouth, I’m going to catch the ball… I’m going to do all of that and it’s not going to stop.”
The Blue Bombers managed to soldier on without Lawler last year with Nic Demski and Rasheed Bailey both enjoying career years, with decent production from veteran Greg Ellingson when healthy, with the usual steadiness of Drew Wolitarsky and with the bust-out campaign of CFL Most Outstanding Rookie Dalton Schoen, who led the league in receiving yards (1,441) and touchdowns (16).
All but Ellingson, who signed in Montreal after Lawler’s arrival here, will return. The value of Lawler’s return to the offence can’t be overstated. The Blue Bombers led the CFL with 44 passing touchdowns as quarterback Zach Collaros, who threw 37 of them, authored another Most Outstanding Player season.
Getting Lawler back into the air force provides Collaros another weapon, one that can make acrobatic catches in traffic and be a deep threat that can take the top of a defence. His mere presence also makes the crew of Schoen, Demski, Bailey and Wolitarsky that much more difficult to defend.
The Blue Bombers receiving corps has a little bit of everything depth-wise, too, with Brendan O’Leary-Orange getting better with each snap, with Greg McCrae – the running back/receiver hybrid – a dangerous threat, and with Carlton Agudosi flashing his enormous potential in his CFL debut (six catches for 70 yards) before his second game ended with an injury the following week.
The team added to its Canadian content by selecting Concordia’s Jeremy Murphy, a U Sports First Team All-Canadian last year, in this month’s CFL Draft and then adding two-time Canadian Junior Football League All-Canadian Michael O’Shea – yes, the head coach’s son – as an undrafted free agent. As well, there is the usual collection of talent unearthed by the club’s crack staff of talent sleuths in Danny McManus, Ted Goveia and Cyril Penn.
Finally, in relation to the Blue Bombers collection of receivers it’s hard not to think of the old saying that ‘too much of anything is never a good thing.’ It could be stressed the exception, at least in the CFL, would be at the receiver position.
A LOOK AT THE RECEIVERS
The Returnees:
Starters from 2022: Dalton Schoen, Nic Demski*, Drew Wolitarsky*, Rasheed Bailey
Also: Janarion Grant, Brendan O’Leary-Orange*, Carlton Agudosi, Greg McCrae (also listed at RB), Tavaris Harrison, Jaivon Heiligh (PR last year), Timothy Knuettel (Global, on PR last year)
CFL free-agent additions: Kenny Lawler (Edmonton)
Departed: Greg Ellingson (Montreal)
2023 CFL Draft picks: Jeremy Murphy (3rd round, 26th overall)
CFL newcomers: Manasseh Bailey, Gavin Garner, Otis Lanier, Michael O’Shea*, Tre Turner, Michael Young, Jr.
*Indicates: Canadian
Keep an eye on: Carlton Agudosi
A massive target at 6-6, 220, the 29-year-old Rutgers product showed so much in his four quarters of work, before being injured early in a game a week later. If healthy he gives the receiving corps another dangerous threat – not as a burner, but as a player with an incredible catch radius.
Did you know?
Nic Demski posted career-best numbers with 64 receptions for 772 yards and 10 receiving TDs. The Blue Bombers haven’t had a Canadian receiver hit the 1,000-yard mark since Gerald Wilcox (69 catches for 1,024 yards) back in 1995.
Notable Number: 41
Schoen had 70 receptions in his break-out season with an incredible 41 of them second-down conversions.
The Blue Bombers opened rookie camp on May 10th with main training camp following on May 14th. This is the seventh installment of our annual positional-preview series leading up to the first day.
